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Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Although I thought Dragon Age 2 was utter bollocks, I’ve decided to
give Inquisition a spin. I’ve been watching a lot of videos and
what I’ve seen looks promising. Plus, there’s nothing else coming
out that interests me right now, and I’m craving something I can
sink a ton of hours into.

What little interest I had in AC:Unity rapidly faded when I heard of
all the technical issues and bugs. But even without those problems,
who thought adding micro-transactions into the series was a good
idea? Or forcing players to use a companion phone/tablet app
alongside the game? That can f**k right off. Also upcoming from
Ubisoft, Far Cry 4 looks like Far Cry 3.5 so I really can’t get too
excited about it.

I was a little tempted by the new CoD having not played a title in
the series since MW2. I saw a lot of praise for the new mobility and
verticality of its MP. Ha! Watching videos of it only made me want to
go back and play some Titanfall. If people really want fast paced
mobility and verticality, TF is the place to go.

I put together a run and gun kit of an SMG with the stim ability and
extended wall running and it’s like playing Sonic the Hedgehog on
speed. They also added some new game modes – Frontier Defence is a
players vs bots mode (which is something I actually suggested way
back in my review). It’s pretty good fun, but it really depends on
the map as some are way too easy to beat. There’s also Marked for
Death, which is a neat twist on TDM, and the recently released ‘floor
is lava’ mode. Once again, it really depends on the map, but it can
be very fun.

The Titanfall player base may have dwindled but I never have trouble
finding a game. It’s likely I’ll grow tired of it again after a
few weeks, but it’s great to see these updates and improvements,
all of which have been free.

Sunday, 16 November 2014

It’s
1995 and you are 21 year old Kaitlin Greenbriar.
You return home from a trip abroad on one dark and stormy night only
to discover the house deserted. Where are your parents? Or your
sister, Sam? Gone Home is something of an interactive mystery house.
Entirely at your own pace you can explore, find clues and figure out
what happened.

So far, so intriguing.
When I first entered the house it reminded me a lot of Shenmue, which
may seem like an odd comparison. But one of the first things you can
do in Shenmue is walk about your own house, opening drawers and
cupboards and rifle through people’s personal possessions. And
that’s what you’ll be doing throughout Gone Home. You’ll be
walking through this house, poking about, searching every drawer and
examining all sorts of (mostly mundane) items. Like a toilet roll!
Why? Because maybe there’s a clue in the roll! (Tip – there’s
not!)

I actually really
enjoyed this aspect, although I’m not sure I was supposed to spend
so long making piles of assorted junk in the entrance hall. Of
course, this exploration and examination is more than just cosmetic.
Certain items you find will trigger ‘journal’ messages from your
sister. As you progress and find more of these recordings you’ll
piece together exactly what happened. And this is really the main
story of Gone Home – what happened to Sam.

But there are other
stories in this mystery house, full of secret passages and hidden
rooms. By reading various notes and letters throughout (as well as
discovering particular items) you’ll gain an insight into the lives
of Kaitlin’s parents and their relationship with Sam. There’s
also a little side plot about the previous owner of the house. This
is something Gone Home does pretty well – building these narratives
through your own exploration.

So far, so good. The
game looks nice and builds a good atmosphere with some great lighting
and sound. The attention to detail is also great and as someone who
was a teenager back in 1995, I loved a lot of the details. It does
feel (mostly) like a real place where people live. Although alone in
the house you come to feel that Sam is your companion, guiding you
through from one clue to the next. Her VA is fantastic and adds a lot
to the game.

So where does Gone Home
go wrong? Well, although the freedom Gone Home grants the player is
great, it can result in you stumbling across something that might
break the flow of the narrative. About 20 minutes in I found a
‘secret’ area and realising I probably wasn’t supposed to go
there yet, I backed out. Which was lucky, because if I had followed
it through I’d have ended the game barely as it was getting
started. Which would be a shame, because exploring the house, opening
up new areas and finding each successive journal entry is extremely
enjoyable and rewarding.

My other concern is
that the side narratives are rather undercooked and don’t really
lead anywhere. I was expecting a little more from them. This, sadly,
is also a problem with the main story and my primary issue. There was
a point about an hour and twenty minutes into Gone Home where it felt
like things were really getting interesting. I was enjoying it a lot,
far more, I must admit, than I was expecting. And then it just ended,
incredibly abruptly.

Oh. I don’t want to
get too much into the story stuff because I really don’t want to
spoil it for people. All I can say is that the ‘ending’ just fell
totally flat for me. I just sat there and thought ‘is that it?’
It’s not such a case of expecting some grand, dramatic finale or
anything like that. It simply feels like the story took a great leap.
As if we’d jumped from the middle of the tale to the very end. It
wasn’t very satisfying and left me feeling like I’d missed out on
a lot of stuff.

Only I hadn’t. I had
all the journal entries so I certainly hadn’t rushed anything. But
the ending of Gone Home did feel rushed. I was getting swept along
with the story and then suddenly it wraps up in the space of a couple
of minutes leaving me feeling rather deflated. It felt like there was
a lot more story to these characters, especially the parents and
their involvement.

Overall though, I liked
Gone Home. Like The Stanley Parable, it’s something I’ll
probably spend a few days debating internally whether it’s a
‘proper’ game or not before remembering that I don’t really
give a f**k. It’s an experience, one I enjoyed and ultimately
that’s all that really matters. Like Stanley, I’d recommend it to
those who want to try something a little different. It’s neat, but
it does feel a lot like eating half of a delicious meal before the
plate is suddenly snatched away.

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Parts 1 and 2 of QOTSS are now complete. Normally when I’m about
half way through writing a book, I begin losing that early
enthusiasm, but because of the way I’ve structured QOTSS that’s
not really happened.

I think I mentioned before that the book is split into multiple
parts, four in all. The first three parts all take place in different
locations with completely different characters (aside from the MC).
They each have their own little story arc, antagonist and resolution.
The fourth part will then tie everything up, bringing all of these
characters together.

It’s been an interesting way to approach a story that I’ve not
really tried before. The potential downside, of course, is that
secondary characters may not have the necessary time to develop to
any great degree, as each part is relatively self-contained. That
said, this is a story very much focused on the journey of the MC over
several years. Each part of the book represents another stage of her
journey.

I suppose I could have told this story in a more straightforward
manner, but where would be the fun in that?

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Shadow of Mordor or ‘Orc Murder Simulator 2014’ is what happens
when you take the Assassin’s Creed and Batman: Arkham games and
mash them together with a complete edition of The Lord of the Rings.
It’s a game about killing orcs. Lots of orcs. It’s probably the
best orc killing game ever made. You can put that one on the box,
guys.

The game is about a guy called Talion (I think?) who sets out on a
mission of revenge because nobody could think of a more interesting
motivation. The story of Mordor is one of its weakest components.
Talion is a bland, humourless sod, accompanied by a dead elf who pops
up on occasion to say something in his serious voice. You also
meet a dwarf and some woman, oh and some other bland guy. I don’t
really remember. Honestly, the story and characters of Mordor are
completely forgettable. Well, that’s not strictly true. The human
story and characters are, but I’ll elaborate more on that later.

So let’s get stuck into the best thing about Mordor – the combat.
Which is fortunate, because the combat is about 99% of the game. The
combat, on a base level, plays out just as it does in Batman. You
have attack, evade, stun and counter buttons. Every hit counts
towards a combo, and once you chain a few hits together you’ll be
able to perform special moves. The combat animations are great, and
the fights are bloody and brutal. As you progress you’ll earn
experience and skill points which can be used to unlock new
abilities. These include the standard health/ammo/focus (slow-mo)
upgrades, plus a selection of new or enhanced powers.

Once you’ve unlocked all of these, you’ll have a wide and varied
selection of tools at your disposal to murder your way through as
many orcs as you please. It’s satisfying and very, very enjoyable.
Combining your different skills and abilities, tearing your way
through an orc stronghold and watching them flee never fails to
amuse. The problem, of course, is that it’s all too damn easy.

But before we get into the difficulty issue, let’s look at the
Assassin’s Creed element. Direct combat is a big part of Mordor,
but there’s a focus on stealth too. You can sneak about, scale
walls and buildings and perform stealth kills. Amusingly, Mordor made
me feel more like an assassin than any of the Assassin’s Creed
series ever really did, especially when you factor in the ‘intel’
aspect as you uncover information about your target and use it
appropriately to give you an edge in a fight.

The myriad of combat and stealth options are fantastic, allowing you
to approach every mission in a variety of ways using a wide pool of
abilities. It’s a lot of fun, and I never really grew tired of it.
However, as I’ve already said, the difficulty is a serious issue.
In my 22 hours of game time (you can probably blast through the main
story in about 10-12, but you’re looking at about 20-25 if you want
to 100%) I only died three times. THREE times.

Right from the start, you’re practically unstoppable in a fight.
And as you level up and unlock new skills and upgrades, you only ever
grow more powerful. You learn lots of new ways to kill things, which
then unlock even more new ways to kill things. By things I
mean orcs. Lots of poor, poor orcs. It’s fun, but extremely easy.
Even the Warchief fights, which you think will turn out to be really
tough ‘boss’ type encounters, aren’t all that hard, even early
on. Hell, I killed all 5 in the starting area when I was only about 6
hours in.

Another problem is the lack of enemy variety. There are three, maybe
four types of orc in terms of weapons, tactics and type of attack,
but they can all be killed in exactly the same manner. If you’re
looking for a little more tactical play, like we had in Batman –
with different foes requiring different gadgets and approach – then
you’ll be disappointed. In Mordor, you can mass execute your way
through everything with ease.

So the story is a waste (with a terrible final ‘boss’ fight too)
and the combat, although fantastic fun, seriously lacks in
challenge. But Mordor has another component, something unique and
quite interesting – the Nemesis system. As you progress through the
story you’ll gain the ability to ‘brand’ orcs and make them
your slaves. There’s this whole system of orc Captains and
Warchiefs you can brand and manipulate. It creates new side quests
that allow you to play one against the other, or push your own
personal ‘favourite’ orc right up through the ranks. It’s
enjoyable to mess about with and it’s where the orc personalities
really shine.

The human characters of Mordor may be forgettable, but the orcs are
great! There’s a lot of different orcs that can pop up, all with
unique names, features, weapons, abilities and weaknesses. The VA for
them is also great, giving each a distinct personality. Some you
‘kill’ may return, perhaps missing an eye, seeking revenge.
You’ll grow attached to some of them and come to loath others.
You’ll build your own stories within the game through your
interactions with these orcs, which is fortunate considering how dull
the actual story is.

But whilst the Nemesis system is certainly interesting, there’s not
a lot of depth to it. Once you’ve played one of its side quests (I
think there are about 5 types in all) you won’t really want to keep
doing them over and over again. It’s also not that hard to get your
chosen orcs into the Warchief positions. And when you have a few
Captains and Chiefs on your team, it becomes even easier to
enslave/kill the rest. And once you’re in full control of the orc
ranks, then what? I guess you could kill them all and start over, but
what would be the point?

The Nemesis system is also disappointing in the sense that it never
really leads anywhere or has any real influence in the story. You’re
told several times that you’re ‘building an army’ but you never
get to actually see it. Towards the very end of the game
you’ll be joined by the Warchiefs you’ve branded, but no Captains
or common soldiers. They do very little in a couple of very small
fights and then just f**k off. Thanks for the help, assholes.

Imagine for a moment if the Warchiefs were directly tied to the orc
strongholds in the game, and by controlling a Warchief you also
controlled the stronghold. It could lead to a very cool strategy
mechanic whereby you could order a Warchief to assault a rivals
stronghold. You could then help the assault by taking down defenders,
opening gates etc. Sadly, the most you can do is start a ‘riot’
between two Warchiefs in a little skirmish. I was hoping at the end
of the game I’d be involved in a seriously big battle with all my
Warchiefs, Captains and all the orcs under their command being
involved. It just doesn’t happen. So although the Nemesis system is
enjoyable to tinker with, it’s also completely bloody pointless.

Graphically, Mordor looks very good, although some environmental
work, particularly in the first area, isn’t great. There are two
open world areas, but neither is that interesting to explore or look
at and both are mostly the same thing – one just has more grass
than the other. In addition to the main story missions and the
Nemesis stuff, you have 30 side challenges relating to your three
weapons – sword (combat) dagger (stealth) and bow (ranged). Some of
these are quite fun, but the majority are quick and forgettable.
There are also two types of (worthless) collectibles to track down.
Well, one type does give you some text to read, at least. As in
Assassin’s Creed, each area has towers (high points) you can scale
to reveal collectibles and side missions.

The only other side content in Mordor (and unfortunately the bulk of
it) is the Outcast Rescue missions, 24 in all, but once you’ve
played one you’ve really played them all. They are repetitive and
dull, and will feel like a real grind if you intend to work through
them. And that’s about it for side content.

Wow, it sounds like I’m really taking a dump on Mordor, but despite
all my issues with it, I still had a lot of fun playing it through.
The story may be bleh, the open world dull, the side content
repetitive and the combat lacking in any sort of challenge but
despite all of that, I never got tired of cutting my way through 50
or so orcs, watching their heads fly as I zipped about between them,
totally untouchable like some crazy ORC GOD OF DEATH. Combined with
the Nemesis system, the combat creates some fantastic, organic
experiences in the open world. It’s just a shame that so many of
the supporting components totally fall flat.